It was gut-check time for the Skyline College men’s basketball team.

After starting Coast Conference North Division play with two losses, the Trojans could ill afford to drop Saturday’s game against Las Positas-Livermore, the same team that routed Skyline in its own tournament back in December. While the Hawks came in as the state’s 10th-ranked team, it was the Trojans who came away with the victory, 77-74.

Skyline improved to 12-9 overall, 1-2 in the ultra-tough Coast North, which has some of the state’s best in the aforementioned Hawks, along with powerhouse programs Ohlone and City College of San Francisco. If Skyline wanted any shot of making the playoffs, it needed to beat a team like Las Positas (17-5, 0-3). Piergrossi was ecstatic with the outcome, because he knows wins are hard to come by in one of the toughest conferences in the state.

“For us a lot was riding on this game,” he said. “You hate to put so much on one game when you have nine more to go. But at the same time if we were going to contend for anything, we had to win this game. It was vital for our season.”

It was the signature victory of the Trojans’ season. In the teams’ first game they were badly beat on the boards, a common theme to their losses to top-ranked teams. But in the rematch the Trojans solved their season-long woes. They played more physical in the paint and didn’t allow as many second-chance points, and more importantly, they made six 3-pointers. Since outside shooting is the Trojans’ weak point, one cannot state enough how important it is for Skyline to convert from the perimeter.

“Our record would be much different if we could hit just two or three more 3s a game,” Piergrossi said. “It’s nice to finally see a couple of those shots drop.”

Even though the Trojans led for most of the contest, they had to sweat things out until the end. They led by eight with 1:40 to go, but Las Positas rallied to within three with under 30 seconds remaining. However, Shawn Echols, who had a game-high 20 points, drained two free throws with 22 seconds left to account for the final score.

Echols made plays all over the court, finishing with five rebounds and four assists while repeatedly getting to the basket. Trojans center Matt Fochtman had 17 points, and brothers Ronney and Rodney Freeman combined for 26 points and 10 rebounds while going 9 for 10 from the free throw line. Skyline had one of its best shooting days of the season, finishing at 52 percent (27 for 52).

It was no coincidence the Trojans won. They hit from the outside, rebounded better and made some key defensive stops in the latter stages of the game, something they failed to do against CCSF and Ohlone in their first two conference games. Making shots from the perimeter will only make Skyline’s high-octane attack that much more potent.

The run-and-gun Trojans need to score a ton of fastbreak points because of their lack of size and outside shooting. However, if they can just make a couple of shots from beyond the arc, there’s no telling how many more wins they can pick up. Piergrossi is eager to find out.

“Everything looks better when you can make a couple of 3s, especially for us,” he said. “Hopefully if we can play like this (more consistently), I like our chances (to make a serious playoff push).”